Children in Suffolk and North East Essex go without seeing a dentist

Dr Stephen Pitt has been left shocked after figures showed 82,704 youngsters - or 44.9 per cent were not seen by an NHS dentist in the year up to June, 2023.

Elsewhere in the area, covered by the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, 453,813 adults - or 60.7 per cent - suffered the same issue. 

The figures were commissioned from the House of Commons and published by the Liberal Democrats. 

Mr Pitt, who is the principal dentist at The Dental Studio, in Bergholt Road, said reforms to the NHS contract system are needed to ensure people can see their dentists in good time.

He added: "When I first qualified, we worked on the basis of you were paid for what you did. Some people may have abused the system but on the whole it worked well.

“What it became was three pay bands, so if you did one filling you ended up being paid the same amount as if you had 20 fillings. What that then meant was that you had practices being scared to take on new patients as they might bring a whole heap of problems.

“I worked under this system for many years but what happened is they never increased my banding, my money. Effectively it meant we were being paid what we were ten years ago and you are starting to make more of a loss.

“People need access to dentists, especially those in severe pain and emergencies because that is tying up A&E’s time, out-of-hours doctors’’ time as one area of the service has a big impact on the whole healthcare service.”

Worry - Martin Goss said he was concerned it would take many years for dentists to go back on the NHS books (Image: Web)

Martin Goss, Liberal Democrats' parliamentary candidate for Colchester, has called for more funding for NHS dentistry services.

He said: “Regrettably, like so many dentists, Stephen has had to come out of the NHS.

“The lack of proper funding for NHS dentistry has seen dentists understandably voting with their feet and withdrawing from the scheme.

Mr Goss added the Liberal Democrats wanted to reform contracts “to pay fairly” and wanted to introduce more cost-effective hygienists.

“My worry is the system has gone too far and will take many years to get dentists back on the books," he added.

“This is also happening with pharmacies, where the NHS is doing the same and why many are closing because they are actually losing money of dispensing various prescriptions."

Queues - People queuing outside a dental surgery after it opened to new NHS patients (Image: Ben Birchall/PA)

Bosses at the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board have now said they are taking a number of actions to combat the problem.

They say they are funding supervised toothbrushing for 3-4 year-olds in eight nurseries and the delivery of oral health training to school children in Years 3 to 6 “who will encourage their peers to adopt tooth-friendly practices”.

“New NHS dental services” from the University of Suffolk Dental CIC will also be opening to people with the highest priority needs in Suffolk and north east Essex.

A spokesman said: “Residents in SNEE face significant difficulties trying to access NHS dental care - this is consistent with the national position."

Stress - Dr Stephen Pitt also said that the cost-of-living crisis was worsening people's teeth due to clenching caused by stress (Image: Web)

Regarding Dr Pitt’s statement on reforms, the SNEE spokesperson added: “SNEE ICB has been working with dentists to improve remuneration where it can within the current contractual boundaries, resulting in an additional £800,000 being paid to dentists in Suffolk and north east Essex.

“From 1 March 2024, the ICB will also be funding additional Out of Hours Urgent and Emergency Care Capacity within Suffolk and north east Essex at increased rates for evenings, weekends and bank holidays.

“Any provider currently paid under the ICB’s average amount for each ‘unit of dental activity’ (UDA), is now being paid up to the ICB average. Where a provider has not met their expected activity, the ICB will implement and agree a recovery plan with them and increase their UDA value. 

“We have also asked for expressions of interest from dentists wishing to deliver 110 per cent of the dental activity they are contractually obligated to provide."

The Department of Health and Social Care has now said its new dental recovery plan sets out how access to dentistry will be faster, simpler and fairer.

A spokesman said: “It will help the sector recover from the pandemic by creating an additional 2.5 million dental appointments for patients over the next 12 months, backed with £200 million.

“The plan also sets out our commitment to deliver long-term reform to the sector – including by consulting on the current contract and building a dental workforce ready for the future through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

“The government already invests more than £3 billion each year to support NHS dentistry and we are starting to see progress. Last year, 1.7 million more adults and around 800,000 more children saw an NHS dentist compared to 2022.”